31 Years and Counting!
In March, the AKC once again released what has been become a bit predictable: that the Labrador retriever was, once again, American’s most popular breed as shown by AKC registrations. It’s no surprise to all of us, of course. With their expressiveness, temperament, trainability, versatility, and all-around awesomeness, Labs just check all the boxes for so many people, year after year.
Filling out the Top Five? French bulldog, golden retrievers, German shepherd dog, and the poodle. As for the bottom five? Sloughis, Belgian laekenois, American foxhounds, English foxhounds, and Norwegian lundehunds. And I’m pretty sure I can only pronounce a couple of those.
Top Dog Names for 2021
It’s quite a chore, deciding that perfect name for your pooch. As with most things in America, someone – many people, it turns out – rank the popularity of dog names, because, well, that’s what Americans do, make lists. There are some discrepancies based on the source – the AKC, pet insurance companies, personalized pet product companies, and a host of others – so while we won’t put an actual number rank by the names, here are six of the most popular dog names in 2021 (we picked these names because they appeared on multiple lists):
Bella
Luna
Daisy
Milo
Lucy
Max
What will you do on January 8, 2023?
It’s National Labrador Retriever Day, after all.
Labs & Sports
A quick tour of Google found a couple of athletic Labs participating in some non-dog sports. Apparently, yellow Lab Lily is a pretty cool customer on a surfboard and won her second consecutive East Coast Dog Surfing Championship. She wasn’t fazed by the delay caused by nearby shark sightings. Look up Matt Keeley’s article “Yellow Lab Wins Dog Surfing Championship After Sharks Cause Half-Hour Delay” from April 18, 2022, on Newsweek.com to read more.
And what is a baseball bat except a really well-sculpted stick? Lambo and Finn enjoy nights at the ballpark for the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators as “bat dogs.” I’m sure all of the other pets that get to attend the typical “pet night” at minor league ballparks across the country are jealous. Or maybe, heh, they want a pawtograph. (Okay, I think I just literally heard my teenage daughter’s eyes roll.) Check out Alex Wright’s May 1, 2022, article “New bat dog Lambo fits in with Finn at Aviators games” in the Las Vegas Review-Journal at reviewjournal.com for more.
From the AKC…
According to the AKC, the nitrogen in your Lab’s urine that is left behind after the water component evaporates is the cause for the ugly brown spots on the grass. They have some suggestions – and cautions – on how to prevent it at www.akc.org/expert-advice/advice/dog-pee-killing-grass.
